The Old Town of Columbus

Map rendering of the old Columbus, Kentucky. Courtesy CBSP. Click for larger photo.

Columbus, Kentucky is the oldest town in the Jackson Purchase
of Kentucky. It was first settled on the banks of the
Mississippi River and known as Iron Banks. The name comes
from the color of banks of the bluffs that rose 150-180 feet
above the river.

The name of Iron Banks was changed in 1820 to Columbus, after
Christopher Columbus, the Italian explorer who discovered the
Americas in 1492. The town received its first post office
in that year and was also recognized by the state assembly.
Originally Columbus was the county seat of Hickman before it was
located in Clinton.

In 1860, the town was formally incorporated just before the
beginning of the Civil War. In March 1862, Columbus and
nearby Fort DeRussey was seized by Union troops after being
abandoned by the Confederates. The North would occupy
Columbus until the end of the Civil War in 1865.

Railroad cars being transferred by boat across the Mississippi. Courtesy CBSP.

Columbus was a very strategic transportation hub during the
mid and late 1800s (one of the reasons why the North wanted
control of it during the Civil War). It was located on the
Mississippi River and was the northern terminus of the Mobile &
Ohio Railroad. The town became a large transfer center for
goods on the Mississippi River being shipped south on the
railroad. The railroad continued into Missouri with rail
cars being shipped on barges across the river. There was
not a railroad bridge at this site, which were uncommon during
this era, especially spanning the great Mississippi River.

The town would flourish for several years until the 1880s.
Due to a new terminus at Cairo, Illinois, freight and passenger
service declined at Columbus. In 1912, the railroad at
Belmont discontinued service due to the large number of bridges
that spanned the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

A flooded Columbus, Kentucky. Courtesy CBSP.

Throughout its history, Columbus was plagued with numerous
floods. Being situated just above the high water mark of
the Mississippi, the town suffered often. In April 1927, a
great flood on the Mississippi River broke the city’s levees.
Water stayed in the town for about three weeks. To add
insult to injury, another flood in June covered the town.

With the levy gone, the river current swept against the
town’s embankments. Amazingly, the river eroded 350 feet
inland in just a few weeks. The entire business district
sank into the Mississippi River and only about 13 of the town’s
150 houses were unaffected.

The Red Cross established relief operations at Columbus and
it was determined the damage to the town was too severe to
rebuild. Marion Rust, who was in charge of the Red Cross
operations, decided to rebuild the town on 80 acres of land
located 140 feet above the river and one-half mile to the north.

The new town was laid out and contained a large business
district with several dozen house lots. In September 1927,
the few salvageable or undamaged homes were moved to the new
city. If an owner couldn’t afford to pay to have the home
relocated, the Red Cross footed the bill. The Red Cross
paid $87,710 for the project, which equates to about $1.2
million in today’s dollars.

The site of Old Columbus today.

In 1930, US 51 bypassed Columbus in favor of Arlington and
Clinton. At the time, the city was served by Kentucky 58
which connected Columbus with Clinton. Kentucky 123 was
commissioned in 1931 and served as a vital north-south link for
the town.

Over the years, Columbus became more isolated with rail
service gone and more people traveling by automobile.
Ferry service was suspended many years ago at the end of
Kentucky 58. Economic activity is largely limited to a
nearby barge operation and the Columbus-Belmont State Park,
which was created in 1934.

A Tale of Two Cities in the Purchase: Columbus peaked
in the 1870s when nearly 1,600 people lived there. It was the
second largest city in western Kentucky at the time, behind
Paducah, Now, the second largest city in western Kentucky
is Murray. Interestingly, in 1870 Murray had the nearly
the same population as Columbus does today, which is around 170
people. Transportation, technology and geographical
challenges have completely changed the scope of cities and towns
over the last 150 years.